ON! ON! U of K!!!

Well as most of you already know I am a HUGE UK fan so my weekend was spend watching ALL of the Elite 8 games and spending quality time with my hubby and baby boy!! It was a GREAT weekend to be a WILDCAT fan!! I am so proud of those CATS! They still have unfinished business with UCONN and then the winner of Butler/VCU but no matter what happens I am one proud fan!! They have come a long way this year!  I support them win or lose. 

These boys have played their heart out and you can tell they want it each and every time they take the floor!  I get this feeling of pure excitement, mixed with nervousness and butterflies each time they play!!

Both of these games were great!! I was jumping, screaming and acting a fool in my living room while my husband laughed at his crazy wife!! I am sure my neighbors heard my excitement!! I even had my little man yelling and throwing his little hands up in the air during the UNC game! Next year he will really be cheering them on!! I have to raise him right! :)

 

Congratulations CATS! You have made the Big Blue Nation proud.   Now let's finish this!

FINAL FOUR BABY!!!

I can hardly wait till Saturday!!!

GO BIG BLUE!!!!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

From my little lucky charm! :)

He thought he was a big boy today! 

 Watching the builders, building a house.  He was amazed.  HA!

Enjoying a ride on his 4 wheeler

After playing outside all morning, we got a bath and changed into the main color of the day!!

KENTUCKY BLUE!! GO CATS!!

 Sweet Boy!

 This color fits us much better! :)

And last but not least, you cannot forget the St. Patty's Day cookies! YUM! 



Cookie Monster

Brayden got his hands of his first real chocolate cookie the other night.  I made some cookies and I was carrying him through the kitchen and he spotted the cookies and started reaching out for them so I let him reach down for them and the little stinker grabbed one up real quick.  He has only had a few bites of chocolate cake before and a few bites of my milkshake but other than that he does not get chocolate so when he got a taste of that chocolate he thought he was in HEAVEN!  I let him sit on the counter and let him eat about half of the cookie.  He loved it.

Gotta....get....that...cookie!!!

Mommy are you sure I am suppose to have this??

YUM!

Happy Boy!

Enjoying my cookie!

I will leave you with a video of Brayden really enjoying his cookie!



HAPPY FRIDAY!!

One year ago I made a huge decision....

It may have been a huge decision but it was by far the BEST decision of my life.....One year ago today I worked my last day at the hospital and one year ago I became a stay at home mommy.  This has been one of the best years of my life. 

BRAND NEW!

Before Brayden was even born I was torn to pieces at the thought of having to leave him with a baby sitter.  I would be in tears each and every time it crossed my mind.  After he was born,  I knew I could not leave him and I knew from that moment that I was meant to be a stay at home mom.  I have worked since I was 16, went to college and worked full time, got my degree,  had a great job that I enjoyed but none of that even mattered anymore once I laid eyes on baby Brayden.  The day I became a stay at home mommy was the day that my new "job" began.  I now have THE BEST job in the world and I would not trade it for anything in this world.  It is a 24/7 job, you have bad days, but they do not even compare to all of the GREAT days that I have with Brayden.  I know that I am his mommy, but he truly is the best baby ever.  He is so smart, calm, loving,  very easy going, and he is so happy. He RARELY ever has a bad day. I am so lucky!

This was Brayden one year ago....My how he has changed!

So how did I decide to become a stay at home mommy?? Well, in all honesty it was a last minute decision.  We both wanted it but we really never sat down and worked out all of the details. My husband has a great job and could support us but it is always scary giving up that extra income but it was so worth it and he actually got a promotion just weeks after I quit my job so it somewhat made up for my lost income.  So, one day before my 12 week maternity leave was up we sat down talked it over and decided that is what would be best for all of us.  I decided to go back to work for six weeks to get things lined out.  I did not want to leave my employer hanging and I wanted to get them caught up from my absence.  In the meantime, Nick traded his day shift for third shift.  He worked all night and watched the baby during the day while I worked out my last six weeks.  He was a lifesaver.  I am so thankful that he did that for us.  He definitely struggled but we made it.  And six weeks later I was officially a stay at home mommy.   My new dream became a reality.  I was going to be his main caregiver.  I was not going to miss out on those first milestones. And thankfully, I have an understanding husband that was completely supportive and encouraging with the idea. I have been a stay at home mom for a full year now and I would not change it for the world.

Being a stay at home mommy is way harder than it may appear. Seeing the same walls, everyday, all  can become overwhelming and like I said earlier, some days are stressful but the good days always outweigh the bad. I would not trade places with anyone. I sometimes think about going back to school for when I do eventually go back to work after my babies are in school ... but right now... I am just enjoying all the time at home with my baby. This is what I consider heaven on earth. And thank you, Nick, for allowing me to live out my new found dream of being a stay at home mommy! I love every minute of it and this is the best time of my life.   The days may seem long at times,  but these years are passing by far too quickly!

I will leave you with poem that I love and it is so very true!!



There are little eyes upon you

and they're watching night and day.

There are little ears that quickly

take in every word you say.

there are little hands all eager

to do anything you do;

And little children dreaming

of the day they'll be like you.

You're the little children's idol,

you're the wisest of the wise.

In their little minds about you

no suspicions ever rise.

They believe in you devoutly,

hold all you say and do;

they will say and do, in your way

when they're grown up just like you.

There's a wide-eyed little student

who believes you're always right;

and their eyes are always opened,

and they watch you day and night.

You are setting an example

every day in all you do;

For the little child who's waiting

to grow up to be like you.



Can you believe it has been TWO years???

It has been TWO years since we found out that our little Brayden was on his way!! I still get teary eyed thinking about the excitement the night that I seen that one AMAZING word pop up on that EPT....PREGNANT!  I could re-live that day over and over.  

We had not been trying that long at all when we became pregnant but it felt like an eternity! My whole life I have wanted to be a mommy and when we started trying I wanted it to happen that first month.

 I remember the night that I found out I was feeling kind of crampy and I thought to myself no way is this our month. The only other symptom I was having was I was extremely tired.  I did not think anything about it at the time. Nick had been out of town and I was just sure we had missed our chance that month but little did we know "WE WERE PREGNANT!! "  After I started to feel a little crampy I decided that I would check to see even though I just knew that it was going to be negative. So I made my way in the bathroom and did what I had to do and waited.  I would not even look at that test until I knew that enough time had passed. I just prayed and prayed as time passed.  I finally picked up the test and looked at it and it read "PREGNANT!"  I immediately started crying and almost dropped the test! It was one of the best days of my life.  It was an amazing day and one I will never forget!

 Life has not been the same since the word PREGNANT showed up on that little stick!  It is amazing how much Brayden has changed our lives these past TWO years! I have been shown a whole new life and a whole new way to love.  As I look at my amazing son I still cannot believe we made him and that he is mine!!

Here Brayden is exactly one year ago today!

  

Two years later, here is the baby, or I guess I should say little boy,  who changes my life daily...oh how I love him!

A baby changes everything. That is probably one of the most true statements that I have ever heard in my life. I think back over the last 2 years and I am just amazed at how much my life has changed for the better. Some days I can't even believe what Brayden has brought to our lives and to our home. 

I love the Rascal Flatts song "The day before you." I loved how the words reflect the heart of a man in love, and all the wonderful emotions that go along with being in love. I think it is the same with a child. You fall in love with your child the day they are conceived and life changes forever.

I love this part of the song......It says:
"Now you're here, and everything's changing. Suddenly life means so much. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and find out this promise is true...I will never have to go back to...the day before you."

I love that life means so much more because of him.  He has taught me so much already and I continue to learn from him daily.  My life will never be the same because of him.  He has definitely changed me.  His love has changed me.

Once in a while right in the middle of an ordinary life love gives us a fairy tale.-Unknown

Brayden is 16 months old!!

Where in the world did February go?? I want to freeze time.  This year is already flying right by us and now my little baby is 16 months old and doing something new each and every day.  He amazes me more and more each day.  He is so smart and he loves to watch us to figure out how to do something or work something and he usually figures it out right away. 

Before I go any further, here is my little man at 16 months old!!

I love this stage he is in.  I want to keep him this little forever!! He does things just to try and get us to laugh with him and he ends up cracking himself up.  He is too funny and has such an amazing personality!  He is on the go all the time but still takes time out each and every day to snuggle with mommy which I eat up every chance I get!

Here is what has been going on in Brayden's life this past month. 

** He is still sleeping all through the night, no problem.  He still sleeps about 12 hours a night. 

**He is starting to hate to have his diaper changed.  He is to busy for that.  :)

**He still loves a bath (after you wash him) He hates for me to wash his face and hair.

**He loves to play basketball and will put the ball in the goal all the time.

** He also loves to play cars with mommy.  

** He loves to play ALL THE TIME....but I will have to say his favorite thing to do is draw.  Give this kid a crayon, and a piece of paper and he is good to go!

Here Brayden is with his Papaw (my daddy).  Papaw drove him all over this house in his car one day .  Brayden loved it!

**I can ask Brayden if Daddy is here and he will take off for the front door and watch for him.  He loves his daddy so much and gets so excited when he shows up at the front door!

** Some new things Brayden can say this month is:

-Bubby- I call him "Bubby" all the time and now he has picked up on it.

- I do it

-High five

-WOW

-Papaw

-Ball

**He LOVES to snuggle noses with me.  I remember doing that with my mom and now I have taught Brayden to snuggle noses.  It is so sweet!

Snuggling noses with his monkey



**He loves to give everyone High Fives and he thinks it is so funny when he hits your hand.  He laughs each and every time!

**He LOVES to look at his books, especially one with all the animals in it.  He loves for you to read it to him and make the animals noises. 

**He loves to play patty cake.  He especially loves the part where you say "throw it in the pan"  He will throw his little hands up in the air.  Most of the time he will skip the other actions and go straight to that part.  He loves it.  It is so cute.  Here is a video of my mom and step dad playing Patty Cake with Brayden. 

** He finally likes to drink out of a straw.  I gave up on it for a while and just tried it the other night and he took to it right away. 

**He still has a great appetite and will eat anything we give him.  We actually let  him taste a banana pepper the other night just to see how he would react and to my surprise he liked it.  Here is a video of it. 

** This little boy is a dancing machine. He dances more and more the older he gets. He now stomps his feet as he dances. This little guy has rhythm already! :)


** He is starting to pretend already. He will bring me stuff out of a drawer that I have and when he runs out of things to give me he continues to pretend he is bringing me stuff and each time I say "Thank you!" I think he really likes to interact with me and hear me tell him thank you because he knows he is doing something good!

He has been pretending to talk on the phone for a long time now....I finally got him on video.  He was walking around the house just jabbering away....

** Walking.....at times he is almost running. He has been picking up the pace lately and it will not be long before he is running everywhere. There are times I tell him to slow down because I am afraid he will trip and fall. He is too funny!

** Brayden will now kick his ball all around the living room just like it is a soccer ball. I am going to put him in Kinderkicks when he is old enough. I really think that he would have a blast and love being around all those other kids his age.

I guess that is all for this monthly update! I will leave you with just a few more pictures of my sweet little man!

Have a great weekend!!